This invention relates to healing and growth control of tissue such as bone, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing germicidal and healing treatment of tissue such as bone.
One area of use of the present invention is providing germicidal and healing treatment of live bone at a bone graft site, although the principles of the present invention can be variously applied. Yasuda found in 1955 that a bone fracture area is a region of abnormally high electrical negativity which appeared to be associated with healing, and he along with Bassett found in 1964 that the application of an artifical electric field from a battery accelerated the healing. Becker found in 1963 and 1977 that silver electrodes, when driven positively, produce a germicidal environment, and he also found that electrical anodal currents of up to about 40 microamperes d.c. are beneficial for a germicidal effect but that negative electric currents of as little as one microampere d.c. are adequate for healing.
It would be highly desirably to provide a method and apparatus for tissue growth control which can accelerate the growth of living tissue such as human bone, and which also can create a germicidal environment for curing tissue and bone infections as well as inhibiting the growth of tumors.